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2 Samuel 6:3

in 2 Samuel 6

They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in the hill: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.

KJV

And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 6

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
The house of Abinadab in Gibeah - . Rather, on the hill (as in margin and 1Sa 7:1). It does not at all follow that Abinadab was still alive, nor can we conclude from Uzzah and Ahio being called sons of Abinadab, that they were literally his children. They may well have been sons of Eleazar and grandsons of Abinadab, or yet more remote descendants; since there is no distinct evidence that Abinadab was alive even when the ark was brought to Kirjath-jearim. The house may have retained the name of “the house of Abinadab” long after his death.

This site's exposition

upon a new cart

on 2 Samuel 6:3-4

David's men set the ark upon a new cart, the exact expedient the Philistines used to send it home from their own territory at 1 Samuel 6:7; the words occur only three times in Scripture, the third in the parallel account at 1 Chronicles 13:7. Numbers 4:15 and 7:9 had assigned the ark to the Kohathites' shoulders under bars, never to a cart or oxen, on pain of death for touching the holy things. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab in whose house the ark had rested, drive the cart from a household grown used to the ark's presence, which is part of why the danger goes unnoticed until Nachon's threshingfloor.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Philistines may cart the ark with impunity; but, if Israelites do so, they do it at their peril. And it mended the matter very little that it was a new cart; old or new, it was not what God had appointed. I wonder how so wise and good a man as David was, that conversed so much with the law of God, came to be guilty of such an oversight.
And they set the ark of God upon a new cart,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

they set the ark of God upon a new cart--or a covered wagon (see on 1Sa 6:7). This was a hasty and inconsiderate procedure, in violation of an express statute (see on Nu 4:15 and see Nu 7:9;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

A new cart - Every thing used in the worship of God was hallowed or set apart for that purpose: a new cart was used through respect, as that had never been applied to any profane or common purpose. But this was not sufficient, for the ark should have been carried on the shoulders of the priests; and the neglect of this ceremony was the cause of the death of Uzzah.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיַּרְכִּ֜בוּand they made to ride

    vaiyarkivuH7392 →78 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲר֤וֹן[the] ark of

    ʾaronH727 →202 times

  • הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙<the> God

    haelohimH430 →2601 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • עֲגָלָ֣הa cart

    ʾagalahH5699 →

  • חֲדָשָׁ֔הa new

    chadashahH2319 →53 times

  • וַיִּשָּׂאֻ֔הוּand they carried it

    vaiyisauhuH5375 →656 times

  • מִבֵּ֥יתfrom [the] house of

    mibeitH1004 →2046 times

  • אֲבִינָדָ֖בAbinadab

    ʾavinadavH41 →12 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • בַּגִּבְעָ֑ה[was] on the hill

    bagivahH1389 →68 times

  • וְעֻזָּ֣אand Uzzah

    veuza'H5798 →14 times

  • וְאַחְי֗וֹand Ahio

    veachyoH283 →

  • בְּנֵי֙[the] sons of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • אֲבִ֣ינָדָ֔בAbinadab

    ʾavinadavH41 →12 times

  • נֹהֲגִ֖ים[were] leading

    nohagimH5090 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָעֲגָלָ֥הthe cart

    haagalahH5699 →

  • חֲדָשָֽׁה׃new

    chadashahH2319 →53 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Chronicles 15:13It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the LORD our God burst forth in anger against us. For we did not consult Him about the proper order.”11 works1 Samuel 6:7Now, therefore, prepare one new cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.6 worksNumbers 7:4–9And the LORD said to Moses,3 works1 Chronicles 13:7So they carried the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding the cart.2 works1 Samuel 6:11Then they put the ark of the LORD on the cart, along with the chest containing the gold rats and the images of the tumors.2 worksJudges 20:28and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?” The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Joshua 3:3and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.2 worksNumbers 4:5–12Whenever the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.0 works

The walk

2 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 6:7

    Now, therefore, prepare one new cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 19:2

      “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.

    • 1 Chronicles 13:7

      So they carried the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding the cart.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 6 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The Second Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).

Read on in 2 Samuel 6 →